Breathe, Houston Rockets fans. Jeremy Lin's benching Monday night in the Rockets' 123-104 preseason loss to the Dallas Mavericks had nothing to do with the point guard's struggles this preseason, but rather was a scheduled night off while Lin recovers from a knee injury. Rockets coach Kevin McHale told the Houston Chronicle that sitting Lin Monday night was always part of the plan:

"We had planned on this already," McHale said. "This was his day off in his knee rehab, 28 days of October plan that we had to get him where we need to have him by the 31st."

McHale also said it's important to take a breather as Lin regains his playing form:

"He's finding his way, as always happens when you haven't played in a long time," McHale said of Lin, who had not played since March prior to training camp. "He had surgery and took a long time off. He's just getting his confidence back, trying to get his mojo going which is very common."